Persistence and Completion Rates

Retention, Graduation, and Persistence & Completion Rates

These pages show the rates at which students stay and finish their JBU education. The information is organized first by school (Traditional Undergraduate, Degree Completion and Graduate) and then, within each school, by program area. The data definitions vary both between and within the schools. Generally, we use the following definitions:

Retention Rate: This gives the percentage of first time full-time students enrolled in a given fall semester who are still enrolled the following fall semester. This only includes students who have never been a student at a college or university after graduating from high school with the exception of those who enrolled in a summer term immediately preceding the fall. This is the number used in all national or regional reporting of “retention rates”.

Graduation Rate: This gives the percentage of first time full-time students enrolled in a given fall semester who graduate from the university within a given time period – we are using six years. As above, this only includes students who have never been a student at a college or university after graduating from high school with the exception of those who enrolled in a summer term immediately preceding the fall. This also is the number used in all national or regional reporting of “graduation rates.”

Persistence and Completion Rates: These apply to students who do not fit the category of first time full time students – students who transfer in from another college or university, including all students in the Degree Completion Program, students enrolled in graduate programs, and first-time students who first enroll in the spring semester. Time periods for persistence and the completion rates vary by program.